WD My Passport Problem

Ok, so Ive got a WD My Passport 500GB external that I keep all my non essential stuff on. I use it with my laptop running Windows 7. They have worked together fine for a few years now. Recently, the external stopped showing up in my drive browser when I plugged it in. Beyond that, it would freeze my drive browser and control panel and all that kind of stuff. When I check the device manager, the external doesnt show up until I plug it in. Then the WD program shows up at the bottom of the list, and the drive itself shows up in the USB section. I tried updating the driver, with no luck. If I uninstall, the computer locks up and I have to shut it down. But, then the drive will work fine. Until I shut the computer off. the next time I try it, same thing.

Does anyone have any tips, or know whats goin on? Is the external toast? Like I said, I can make it work to get my stuff off it, its just a pain in the ass.